This past sunny, hot weekend, thousands of Angelenos took to the mountains and beaches for hiking, biking, rollerblading and jogging. Many of these people likely had a moment when they looked around with a smile and thought, wow, what a life we live here, how lucky we are, compared to the unlucky folk of the East Coast, where they are inundated with one cold winter storm after another, have to shovel snow from their driveways daily, and dress in half a dozen layers while we go outdoors in tank-tops and shorts.

Burbank’s McCambridge Pool is closed for winter, as it usually is when the summer swim season ends. As usual, the water’s been drained away to make way for maintenance work and painting, but this year something’s different.
Rather...

Due to the ongoing drought, Burbank residents are restricted in their outdoor watering to only one day a week through April, but residents have complained about the limits.
The City Council took a second look at its mandatory water conservation efforts...

Re: “Residents ask officials to water down restrictions, Nov. 8. At the Nov. 4 council meeting, all the council members except Mayor Gordon voted to confirm the BWP’s one-day-per-week “winter” landscape-watering plan. Watering...

Before Southern California was drenched with much-needed rain, the Burbank City Council last week approved two measures intended to help residents conserve water amid the state’s ongoing drought.
The council voted to expand Burbank Water and Power&...

Bryan Mahoney offers important information in his Sept. 3 column and all of us need to make efforts to save water in this unprecedented drought. But if Burbank Water and Power does not take the drought conditions seriously, there will not be widespread and sustained participation in water-conservation efforts. Remember that BWP put water conservation on the chopping block if it did not get its rate hike a few months ago. It will take more than a little postcard in the mail to convince chronic water...

Officials at Burbank Water and Power this week urged customers to be vigilant about saving water in the wake of Gov. Jerry Brown’s drought emergency declaration Friday, though the utility does not plan to implement mandatory conservation.
Reducing the sprinkler usage from daily to three times a week is the most effective way to conserve, as more than half the city’s water usage goes toward landscaping, said Bill Mace, the utility’s assistant general manager.
Usually, the utility...

As residents make plans for this year’s Fourth of July festivities, local fire officials are ramping up for what could be a very busy weekend, warning residents to avoid fireworks and exercise extreme precaution in dry weather conditions.
Capt. Brian Kane of La Cañada’s Fire Station No. 82 said Tuesday firefighters would be on full alert on Saturday.
“We’re in a full state of heightened awareness for that day, not only because of the weather, but because of the activities,&...

Glendale residents are seeing a new drought charge when they open their water bills, a fee aimed at recouping money needed to maintain the utility as people continue to conserve.
Last year, the City Council enacted the second phase of a water-saving strategy in the face of one of the state’s worst droughts.
Phase two required residents to cut back on watering lawns to three times a week, but the drought charge was postponed.
Local residents have been doing their part in cutting back on usage,...

A discussion that could potentially initiate lifting Glendale’s ban on swapping lush front lawns for artificial turf is planned for a City Council meeting on Tuesday amid ongoing mandates from city officials to help fight the ongoing drought in the state.
Several years ago, the council restricted fake grass to residential backyards only, where they were out of sight from the street. Homeowners that applauded that action believe artificial turf damages the character and visual appeal of their...

An annual art contest established four years ago to expand awareness of California’s drought recently among young people had more than 120 submissions from students in elementary through high school, and two of its top three winners are Rosemont Middle School students.
The water district’s “Water is Life” art contest coincided with the fourth consecutive year of California’s severe drought.
First-place honors went to Ariana Keshishian, a Rosemont eighth-grader who drew an...

California is in the fourth year of one of the most severe droughts ever recorded. In the last few months, records have been set for the highest temperatures and driest conditions for this time of year. This has prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to issue several Executive Orders including mandatory conservation provisions. All Californians need to take immediate action to change water usage patterns as we are faced with another record setting drought year.
The Metropolitan Water District is also poised to...